Hundreds of Flights Grounded as Bowl Fans Try to Go Home

By Brian K. Sullivan and Lynn Doan -
Feb 3, 2014

A winter storm spread snow, ice and
sleet across the Northeast, dropping as much as 8 inches (20
centimeters) on parts of New York City and grounding flights as
visiting Super Bowl fans sought to get home.

Light snow that began falling in New York before 5 a.m.
reached 8 inches in Central Park as of 4 p.m., the National
Weather Service reported. About 6.5 inches was on the ground at
New York’s John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, while New
Jersey’s Newark Liberty had 7.3.

“The snow is moving away from the area,” Joe Pollina, a
meteorologist with the weather service in Upton, New York, said
by telephone. “We do have more in the way of wintry weather
later in the week that might actually be worse because there’s
ice in the forecast, not just snow.”

As of 6:34 p.m. in New York, 1,980 flights within, into, or
out of the U.S. were canceled and 4,709 delayed, according to
FlightAware, a Houston-based airline tracking company. The three
major airports in the New York City area, where the National
Football League’s championship game was played yesterday, were
reporting delays as long as two hours, the Federal Aviation
Administration said on its website.

Fans Wait

“People from all over the country are here in different
types of jerseys, yet we’re all in the same situation right
now,” said Darin Smith, 52, a Seattle Seahawks fan from
Redmond, Washington, who was waiting at LaGuardia International
Airport. “Everyone is stuck and ready to go home.”

Smith said his flight, with a connection in Chicago, was to
have departed at 11:45 a.m. It was rescheduled for 2:20 p.m. and
then for 4 p.m.

“It messes everything up, but today I do it with a smile
because I’m going home a champion with my team,” he said.

Fans who planned to get home by corporate jet were also
finding slow-going. The Super Bowl has become the biggest annual
event for business-jet travelers, according to Argus
International Inc., a Cincinnati-based aviation research firm.

Corporate Jets

The airport has closed almost once an hour today to clear
runways, he said. The snow also made it difficult to reach
planes parked on a closed runway and forced pilots to clean off
aircraft before departing.

“We have lots of refreshments and food, which is fortunate
because we have lobbies full of people,” Boyd said.

Winter storm warnings and advisories stretched from Utah to
Vermont. The storm was also expected to drop as much as 8 inches
on Ohio. Two inches an hour of snow may fall in New Jersey, the
weather service said.

A mixture of rain and snow was forecast for Washington,
with little or no accumulation. Boston’s Logan International
Airport got a half-inch of snow as the storm focused more on the
corridor from Philadelphia to New York.

Skies over the Northeast will be clear late today and
tomorrow, then a new storm may bring 4 inches of snow and sleet
to New York City tomorrow night and the next day, the weather
service said. The Boston area might see 6 inches.

“The roads have a good deal of snow on them, and they’re
going to be slick with the forecast for ice,” Pollina said.
“Take it slow. Give yourself plenty of time to get where you
need to get.”